Awards

Staff Pick

Thirteen is a futuristic techno-thriller and a sci-fi masterpiece. I was reminded of Dan Simmons's Hyperion  the world and its people are that richly drawn. At once gripping and thoughtful, this is a novel worthy of the top awards. It's got my vote. Recommended by Beth, Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope — and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

Review:

"A magnificently original blend of themes and styles." Denver Post

Review:

"Each of [the pilgrim's] stories would make a superb novella on its own." Gerald Jonas, The New York Times Book Review

What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating based on 6 comments:

Leah Kiczula, August 4, 2012 (view all comments by Leah Kiczula)
This is the first book in an epic 4 book series spanning hundreds/thousands of years (Depending on the character). The get the full pleasure of reading Hyperion, you must read all four. However, the first in the this awesome series, chronicles the lives of and passage of six pilgrim's making their way to the Temple of the Shrike where one will get their wish and rest shall die. Set among interstellar war, outback planetary conflict, and a time that moves forward yet backwards, these tales set the stage the the exciting adventure that is the Hyperion Cantos.

KateH, August 4, 2012 (view all comments by KateH)
Though it starts out sorta schmaltzy, Hyperion quickly becomes eminently readable and damn-near highbrow, with homages to both Chaucer and Keats. Sure to please lovers of sci-fi, but even those who typically avoid genre lit might enjoy this one. Ignore the cheesy cover art and dive into a ripping good story.

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jlgill, August 4, 2012 (view all comments by jlgill)
Like the Canterbury Tales, Hyperion is a frame tale; a series of stories within a story. Not a fan of Middle English literature? No worries-- the similarities end there. Hyperion follows a group of extra-planetary pilgrims to the world of Hyperion, chosen for a final pilgrimage to petition the planet's mythical inhabitant, the Shrike, Lord of Pain, for a wish. According to myth, only one pilgrim will survive the encounter, and so each-- a preist, a soldier, a poet, a scholar, a detective, and a consul-- tells the story of how they came to make the journey, and why, in the hopes that this information may somehow aid them in determining the outcome of their fateful meeting with the Shrike. The novel is largely made up of these consecutive tales, and I became fully immersed in each in turn.

Simmons is a master of narrative voice, as his characters (archetypes, really) each tell of the horrors, mysteries, and losses that led them to seek the Shrike. There are many mysteries in Hyperion, each unfolding slowly in the course of the pilgrims' tales. What is the Shrike, and why has it started ranging--and killing--beyond its former region? Why are the "space barbarian" Ousters attacking the planet Hyperion? Is one of the pilgrims a spy? We also learn, in exposition deftly woven into the narrative of the fall of Old Earth, the establishment of the World Web and the TechnoCore, the Church of the Shrike, and the interstellar Hegemony government that governs the World Web. Simmons doesn't tell, he shows-- gradually, teasingly, and masterfully.

Hyperion is the sort of book I'd like to hand to folks who say they don't like science fiction, and say "THIS. This is what SF can be like!" It was an absolute joy to experience. I listened to the audio on a long car trip and found myself transfixed, wanting to stay on the road "for just another hour" so that I could prolong the fun. I implored my closest friends to read it right away, so I would have someone to talk about it with. It's the sort of book that both rivets you in the moment, and sticks with you for days afterwards.

Thirteen is a futuristic techno-thriller and a sci-fi masterpiece. I was reminded of Dan Simmons's Hyperion  the world and its people are that richly drawn. At once gripping and thoughtful, this is a novel worthy of the top awards. It's got my vote.

by Beth

"Review"
by Denver Post,
"A magnificently original blend of themes and styles."

"Review"
by Gerald Jonas, The New York Times Book Review,
"Each of [the pilgrim's] stories would make a superb novella on its own."

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